New suspect emerges in possible Brian Jones murder | Reuters Mon Sep 14, 2009 | 10:17 PM EDT New suspect emerges in possible Brian Jones murder By Dean Goodman | LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES The line for suspected killers of Rolling Stones co-founder Brian Jones forms at the left. As conspiracy theorists salivate over the British police's recent decision to look into Jones' drowning 40 years ago, the band's former road manager on Monday accused a deceased World War Two veteran of killing the ill-starred virtuoso. Sam Cutler pointed the finger at Tom Keylock, the band's former chauffeur. Keylock allegedly coaxed a death-bed confession 16 years ago out of his friend Frank Thorogood, a builder who immediately became the pundits' prime suspect. While there is no hard evidence linking either man to Jones' death in his own swimming pool, Cutler said Keylock acted suspiciously in the ensuing days, removing or destroying items at Jones' house. Moreover, he disclosed that Keylock was the only suspect in a hitherto-undisclosed private investigation launched by the band's Allen Klein, who had little confidence in the British police.

"He investigated Brian's murder with all the resources he had available to him and Klein thought that Brian had been murdered," Cutler wrote in a blog posting ( "Tom Keylock was the prime (and only) suspect named in that report." In an interview with Reuters, Cutler declined to say how he found out about the Klein report, but he said he met with Klein many times in the year after Jones died. KEY PLAYERS ALL DEAD Keylock, who was never formally interviewed by the police, died in London on July 2, aged 82. According to obituaries, he saw action at the Battle of Arnhem in the Netherlands in 1944. Klein died in New York two days later, aged 77. Representatives for Klein's ABKCO Music label and for the Rolling Stones declined comment. The official verdict on Jones is "death by misadventure." Despite being a strong swimmer, he drowned shortly after he was ousted from the Rolling Stones following years of erratic behavior fueled by drug abuse and insecurity. The autopsy revealed that he had ingested large amounts of drugs and alcohol, and his liver was twice the normal weight. He was 27.

Thorogood was staying with Jones at the time, along with two women. Keylock initially claimed he was not there, but Cutler said he later admitted that he had been. Thorogood, who died in 1993, was fingered in two books published the following year, "Paint It Black: The Murder Of Brian Jones" by Geoffrey Giuliano and "Who Killed Christopher Robin?" by Terry Rawlings. (Jones lived in Winnie the Pooh creator A.A. Milne's former home). Thorogood either "snapped," according to the alleged confession cited in Rawlings' book, or accidentally held Jones underwater for too long during horseplay, according to Giuliano. But Cutler, immortalized in the Stones documentary "Gimme Shelter" trying to rein in the Hells Angels at the disastrous Altamont concert in 1969, said Klein's investigators suspected Keylock after interviewing the two women. Both were too afraid to testify against him, Cutler said, and Keylock initially claimed that he was never at Jones' house at the time. A potential wrinkle in Cutler's argument is that both women also fingered Thorogood.

One of them, Jones' girlfriend Anna Wohlin, blamed him in a 1999 memoir. Testimony from Lawson, who recently died, is believed to be at the crux of the report currently being perused by Sussex police. Cutler said both were terrified of Keylock, who threatened them with violence. He spirited Wohlin back to her native Sweden within days of Jones' death. MOTIVE UNCLEAR A spokesman for the Sussex police said the report, from investigative journalist Scott Jones (no kin to the musician), has been examined by a senior detective but is not high priority. Keylock's motive is unclear. "My gut feeling is that he was ripping Brian off on some level or another," said Cutler, who was also questioned by Klein's investigators. His alibi held up, as he was preparing the band's free concert in Hyde Park. Cutler's theory got some support from Mandy Aftel, author of the 1982 book "Death of a Rolling Stone: The Brian Jones Story," who thought Jones was murdered but could not work out a motive.

"Sometimes there isn't a 'why.' Or, I think one thing leads to another and before you know it something has happened but you didn't plan on it," Aftel told Reuters. (Editing by Belinda Goldsmith) Brian Jones: It Was Murder | MOJO Brian Jones: It Was Murder Killing of the Rolling Stones guitarist was covered up by his minder, claims new book. By MOJO STAFF July 29, 2014 THE ROLLING STONES’ BRIAN JONES was killed by builders working at his house in East Sussex, who escaped the attentions of the police after the band’s minder, Tom Keylock, orchestrated a cover-up, claims a book published on the 45th anniversary of the guitarist’s death. The updated edition of Brian Jones: Who Killed Christopher Robin? also links Jones’ death to the attempted murder three weeks later of Joan Fitzsimons, an alleged witness to the crime. “There was a cover-up.

It’s not a crackpot theory, it’s what happened.” Terry Rawlings “[Brian Jones] was definitely murdered and there was a cover-up,” asserts the book’s author Terry Rawlings in the new issue of MOJO, on sale in the UK on July 29. “It’s not a crackpot theory, it’s what happened.” Mystery has always surrounded the death of the guitarist, who drowned in the swimming pool at his Cotchford Farm country home on July 2, 1969, a month after he was sacked from the Rolling Stones. Jones had become isolated from the other band members, drinking and drugging to excess. Several of Rawlings’ revelations follow the death in July 2009 of Tom Keylock, the band’s driver/minder, who admitted to the author in a videotaped interview a year before he passed away that he was, indeed, present at Cotchford Farm at the time Jones died. Previously he’d maintained that he had left the property earlier that evening to collect a guitar for Keith Richards.

The book – the original 1994 edition of which first identified builder Frank Thorogood as the primary murder suspect – also sheds more light on who was at Jones’ home on the day he died, and how police failed to act on information that could have brought his alleged killers to justice. Read more in our interview with Terry Rawlings in the 250th Edition of MOJO magazine , out in the UK now. PHOTO: Alamy Rolling Stones Brian Jones' lover Anna Wohlin claims he was killed in scuffle with minder - Mirror Online News Rolling Stones Brian Jones' lover Anna Wohlin claims he was killed in scuffle with minder Two days before the 1969 gig she’d dragged his lifeless body from the swimming pool of Sussex farmhouse and tried in vain to revive him Share Anna Wohlin, ex-girlfriend of Rolling Stone Brian Jones (Photo: Scanpix) Share Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email Anna Wohlin should have had a VIP pass the last time The Rolling Stones played London’s Hyde Park.

The pretty young Swedish dancer was meant to be backstage in 1969 watching the band introduce their new guitarist – the replacement for founder member Brian Jones who’d been sacked a month before. Anna never made it to that iconic gig, but unlike thousands of veteran fans she has no desire to be in the park tonight as the ­legendary rockers return, 44 years later. For Anna was Brian Jones’ lover…and two days before the gig she’d dragged his lifeless body from the swimming pool of his Sussex farmhouse and tried in vain to revive him. Yet, before the tragedy on July 3, 1969, she and Brian had planned to go to the Hyde Park concert together – so he could publicly show he had no hard feelings about leaving the Rolling Stones. “Instead of being backstage with Brian I was in a hotel room nearby,” reveals Anna, now 66. “I was broken…in total shock. Fans were gathering with candles and I wanted to go and say goodbye to Brian. “But I was in no fit state. I didn’t realise then but I was a nuisance – a problem to the Stones management.

They knew I knew what really happened on the night Brian died.” Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones and singer Mick Jagger in 1966 (Photo: Getty) The events following Brian’s death have gone down in the annals of pop history, with Anna’s role reduced to a mere footnote. Rock legend has it Brian, 27, drowned under the influence of drugs and booze, after going off the rails when the Stones fired him. Conspiracy theorists insist he was murdered – and police reviewed the case as recently as 2010 but did not reopen inquiries. But in an exclusive interview with the Mirror, Anna has rekindled the riddle of the death and Brian’s rift with the band. She sensationally claims the musician WAS killed, in a scuffle with disgruntled minder Frank Thorogood, said to have been fired by Jones that day – but the truth was covered up to protect the band’s image. Her account is supported by Thorogood’s alleged death bed confession 20 years ago. Anna says: “Brian is still portrayed as a bitter, worn-out and depressed man who was fired because of his drug habit…and who died because he was drunk or high.

“But my Brian was a wonderful, charismatic man who was happier than ever, had given up drugs and was looking forward to pursuing the musical career he wanted. “We’d been blissfully happy together for three months and he and I had planned to go to watch the Hyde Park gig. “Brian wasn’t bitter about Mick Taylor replacing him – he was quite relieved actually. He had wanted to leave the band for some time before they asked him to go. “He didn’t like the direction the music was taking – he wanted to play blues – and he didn’t want to tour America any more. “There were no hard feelings when he left though, and if people had seen us at the concert they would have known that.But it wasn’t to be. The night before I stayed at the ­Londonderry Hotel with Bill Wyman and ?his girlfriend Astrid Lundstrom. “They thought it was a bad idea for me to go – I couldn’t think straight. I was in shock.

Some friends stayed with me but I was torn – I wanted to be there…but with Brian – and he was gone.” Builder Frank Thorogood comforts Anna in July 1969 as they arrive for the inquest into Jones's death (Photo: Daily Mirror) The gig became an iconic pop moment after the Stones turned it into a tribute to Brian. Jagger, in his famous white dress, read poetry by Shelley before roadies released 2,500 white butterflies. So was that a comfort to Anna? She gives a long sigh. “Let’s say I have very mixed feelings. They had to do something, because Brian had died, and, yes, I think they were all in shock. “But whether they had wanted to do it or not, I don’t know. They just had to. “Before Brian died, Mick was nervous that Brian’s fans might boycott the concert in protest at his replacement. “In the end, 500,000 people went. But it was a nice day, the concert was free and the fans went for Brian. So there had to be recognition from the band.” After Brian died Anna wrote to Mick Jagger, accusing him of not caring enough about Brian’s death.

He never replied. She says she no longer bears any animosity towards him, but admits “It just felt so unfair he was alive and thriving…a reminder he and the other Stones were continuing as if nothing had happened – while Brian was gone forever.” She says the Stones’ management urged her to return to Sweden a week after Brian’s death. She left following the inquest which recorded a verdict of misadventure – even though tests found little evidence of drugs and the equivalent of just three and a half pints of beer. Anna, who now runs a boutique in her home city Stockholm, explains: “I was intimidated into silence about what really happened – under sedation, in shock.” Anna in her younger years (Photo: Rex) After returning home she discovered she was expecting Brian’s child – but ­miscarried and became depressed. She returned to England two months later to collect her belongings from the farm – only to find it had been cleared out and all her personal belongings and gifts from Brian had disappeared. She says: “The Stones PR manager had promised to find me somewhere to live if I came back – but when I went to their offices no one would help.

"I felt betrayed so I went to a lawyer and to a journalist and tried to tell the truth about Brian’s death – but no one wanted to know.” Anna got married, had a daughter and tried to move on. But she says it was only after divorcing three decades later that she finally began to grieve for Brian. She says: “I decided to write my story, but people still didn’t believe it. "I don’t know if Frank meant to kill Brian – maybe it was horseplay in the pool that went wrong. But I knew all along he did not die a natural death. I’m still sure of it. “Now the Stones are back in Hyde Park and everyone is talking about 1969 and that free gig. Anna pauses, then adds: “Imagine – a free Rolling Stones concert! I wonder what the tickets cost today?” I tell her they start at £95 but some cost more than £300. She sighs again. “Everyone thinks I must be a Stones fan, but I’m not. I’ve never seen them in concert and haven’t paid them much attention over the years – I really don’t care.

“I fell in love with Brian when I was 16 and we got together five years later. He happened to play in that band – that’s all. “Don’t get me wrong – I like the music and think it is amazing they have kept going so long. But Brian would have carried on making music too…I’m sure. He was the one who was most musical.” Brian Jones drowned in his farmhouse swimming pool in Hartfield, Sussex (Photo: MSI) Anna used to have terrible nightmares about finding Brian’s body at the bottom of the pool and screaming for help. Now, she says, Brian “visits” her in her dreams, and she tries to remember the good times they shared. She says: “We were so happy. When Brian bought the farmhouse he said he wanted to live there the rest of his life. And he did. But it was too short. “I didn’t visit his grave for a long time – but I’ve been twice now. It’s a beautiful stone with lovely flowers still brought by fans. “One of the hardest things was that when Brian died he was my boyfriend – but suddenly he belonged to another world and other people – and I couldn’t really cope with that. “Talking about him helps me reclaim him.

My Brian, not the tragic legend.” As fans gather tonight to watch the Rolling Stones they will remember Brian for his brilliant musicianship – and his former band mates will no doubt recall their tributes of 44 years ago. “So many years have passed,” said Anna. “I don’t bear the Stones any bad feelings. "They are icons and great professionals and they will all probably die on stage. “Brian never got that chance…such a waste of a life. He died too young.” Most Read Most Recent Most Read Most Recent Author Claims Rolling Stones' Brian Jones Was Murdered REDDIT Hulton Archive, Getty Images In his 1994 book ‘ Brian Jones : Who Killed Christopher Robin?,’ writer Terry Rawlings asserted that the mysterious circumstances surrounding the Rolling Stones co-founder’s death were a cover-up for murder — and he’s renewed those allegations in a recently released updated edition.

MOJO spoke with Rawlings for a cover story about the reissued book, and he doesn’t mince words in the interview, flatly stating that Jones “was definitely murdered and there was a cover-up.” Aware that some have questioned his findings, Rawlings added, “It’s not a crackpot theory; it’s what happened.” Jones — who’d been fired from the Rolling Stones a few weeks before — drowned in his pool on July 3, 1969, following an evening during which he played host to a group of guests that included a contractor named Frank Thorogood. In the original edition of ‘Who Killed Christopher Robin?,’ Rawlings pointed the finger at Thorogood, saying that tensions between Jones and his employee turned violent during a shared swim. Allegedly, Thorogood confessed to the deed on his deathbed in 1993, telling the band’s former road manager Tom Keylock, “It was me that did Brian.

I just finally snapped.” The book’s update includes findings gleaned from a videotaped interview with Keylock, who apparently admitted that — contrary to his long-held assertion that he’d been away from the house on an errand for Keith Richards — he was actually at the house when Jones died. And although Keylock himself passed away in 2009, it’s worth noting that Rawlings is far from alone in his beliefs. In fact, Anna Wohlin, who was involved with Jones and on the grounds when he drowned, backed them up in a 2013 interview with the U.K.’s Daily Mail . “I don’t know if Frank meant to kill Brian,” she admitted. “Maybe it was horseplay in the pool that went wrong. But I knew all along he did not die a natural death. I’m still sure of it.” Police reviewed their investigation into Jones’ death in 2009, after a journalist unearthed hundreds of documents pertaining to the incident — including a claim from Thorogood’s daughter that Richards and Mick Jagger had been in the midst of a potentially violent argument with Jones over who owned the rights to the Stones name. Ultimately, however, the case remained officially closed.

Think You Know Rock’s Tragic ’27 Club’? Death By Misadvanture or Murder? What Really Happened To Brian Jones Of The Rolling Stones? [POLL] Death By Misadvanture or Murder? What Really Happened To Brian Jones Of The Rolling Stones? [POLL] By Eric Senich August 5, 2014 6:21 PM Share on Twitter It seemed as if the real story of Brian Jones’ death sank with him to the bottom of that pool in East Sussex England in the early morning hours of July 3rd, 1969. Yet, 45 years later, many conspiracy theorists continue to believe that the real story has yet to surface. In 1994, writer Terry Rawlings issued the book ‘Brian Jones: Who Killed Christopher Robin?’ His investigating led him to believe that Jones, the Rolling Stones co-founder, was murdered and not a victim of “death by misadventure” as it was stated in the coroner’s report. Rawlings has renewed his claims in a recently released updated edition.

Jones (far right) with the members of The Rolling Stones during the early 60s (Getty Images) What we do know is that Jones was spiraling downward fast and was eventually fired from The Rolling Stones a few weeks before his death. He was deep into drug addiction yet felt he wasn’t the problem. It was Mick Jagger and Keith Richards who weren’t getting it. Jones had his idea of where the Stones should go musically in the future while Mick and Keith had their ideas. Eventually Jones would be outnumbered. The Stones decided that following the release of the Let it Bleed album in July of 1969 they would start a North American tour in November 1969. However, the Stones management was informed that because of his drug convictions Jones would not receive a work permit. At the suggestion of pianist and road manager Ian Stewart, the Stones decided to add a new guitarist on June 8th, 1969. Jones was visited by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts soon after and was told that the group he had formed would continue without him. To the public it was made to look as if Jones had left voluntarily.

Jones released a statement on June 9th, 1969 announcing his departure. In this statement he said, among other things, that “I no longer see eye-to-eye with the others over the discs we are cutting”. Jones was replaced by 20-year-old guitarist Mick Taylor. The dejected and out-of-work Jones was living at the former home of A.A. Milne, author of the famous Winnie The Pooh book series, at the time of his death. He had some guests over to his house on the night of July 2nd including a man named Frank Thorogood, an employee of Jones. Brian Jones in 1968 (Getty Images) Both Jones and Thorogood were not getting along. In fact, there were those who stated their relationship had grown violent as Jones had previously informed Thorogood his services were no longer needed. In other words, Jones fired Thorogood. But, and this may have been Jones’ biggest mistake, he allowed Thorogood to stick around for a while and even take a swim before his last exit. That is where the details of what happened after become blurry even though Thorogood tried to make it as clear as crystal years later.

It was Thorogood himself who decided to confess to the murder of Jones on his death bed in 1993. He told the band’s former manager Tom Keylock the following: “It was me that did Brian. I just finally snapped.” Yet there are still those who feel, despite Thorogood’s confession, that this was not what happened. That it was simply another rock star who was out of his mind on drugs and alcohol. That Jones drowned in his pool as a result of being too high on drugs to keep himself from drowning at the bottom of his own pool. Now we ask you. Was Jones’ death just a misadventure gone terribly wrong or was it something much more sinister? The film "Stoned" - Brian Jones' death The film "Stoned" - Brian Jones' death Posted by: paulywaul () Date: September 4, 2007 13:33 Did anyone see this last night, it was on channel 5 at 11:00 pm ?

I thought it was pretty good, but the one revelation was what came up at the end, and that was that apparently Brian's builder Frank Thorogood confessed on his deathbed - I think it said he died in 1993 - to having murdered/drowned Brian in the swimming pool. I never knew this. I'd heard or read somewhere or other that Brian's death at the hands of this guy was one of many theories swirling around, but I wasn't aware that there'd ever been a "deathbed confession" ?? Anyway, it made for great viewing, I enjoyed it. Date: September 4, 2007 13:52 I just pulled this off of WIKIPEDIA- Anna Wohlin claimed in 1999 that he had been murdered by a builder who had been staying with them renovating the house the couple shared. The builder, Frank Thorogood, allegedly confessed to the murder on his deathbed to the Rolling Stones' driver, Tom Keylock; however, it should be noted that there were no other witnesses to this confession.

In her book ("The Murder Of Brian Jones") she alleges that Frank Thorogood behaved suspiciously and showed little sympathy when Jones was discovered in the pool (he was also the last one to see Brian alive), but she admits that she was not actually present at the time of Jones's death. Date: September 4, 2007 14:07 Anna Wohlin.....Frank Thorogood arriving at Jones inquest East Grinstead...Daily Mirror ROCKMAN Posted by: Manofwealthandtaste () Date: September 4, 2007 14:10 I saw this at the Curzon cinema when it came out last year and I enjoyed it as a film but there will be endless debates as to it's accuracy and in particular Thorogood's 'confession'. I seem to remember the scenes in Morocco were an interesting interpretation of the chaotic, hedonistic events of the time. Posted by: Beast () Date: September 4, 2007 14:21 I also saw it when it came out and it was/has been much discussed on this board. I thought that as a film it was rubbish!

Date: September 4, 2007 14:26 ROLLING STONED Wrote: > I just pulled this off of WIKIPEDIA- > > Anna Wohlin claimed in 1999 that he had been > murdered by a builder who had been staying with > them renovating the house the couple shared. The > builder, Frank Thorogood, allegedly confessed to > the murder on his deathbed to the Rolling Stones' > driver, Tom Keylock; however, it should be noted > that there were no other witnesses to this > confession. In her book ("The Murder Of Brian > Jones") she alleges that Frank Thorogood behaved > suspiciously and showed little sympathy when Jones > was discovered in the pool (he was also the last > one to see Brian alive), but she admits that she > was not actually present at the time of Jones's > death. Really interesting.

Anyway, certainly the way the "possible" events that occurred in that pool involving Brian and Frank Thorogood were depicted in the film were credible I suppose, in as much as (a) given the state Brian was supposedly in at the time, and (b) the falling out over monies due they'd recently had - it not beyond the realms of possibility that tempers frayed and one ended up drowning the other. Is the case of Brian's death actually a closed one at this moment in time, or still open ? Date: September 4, 2007 16:15 I saw it last night too and actually thought it was quite a good film. OK so the main characters can never look and sound exactly like our heros, but it seemed to get the atmosphere right. The Keith character was particulraly bad acted (only recognisable as Keith by the hair cut) but I didn't think any of the other characters were bad. Also, remember that people really did talk differently in the 60s. I think that the film reflected this well. And what was bad about the script? I thought it was well scripted.

Perhaps if the film was remade using american actors and more action in it then people would prefer it. Posted by: BluzDude () Date: September 4, 2007 19:32 Come on guys, you know what really happened, Thorogood was paid by record company execs to knock off Jones because when he was kicked out of the stones a few days earlier, his lawyers threatened the rest of the band that Jones owned the name and a major lawsuite would follow if the Stones didn't change their name.....Now I do not know if this is really true, but a friend of mine who is into conspiracy theories has been saying this for years. Then again, he contends that LBJ was behind the shooting of JFK. Date: September 5, 2007 01:06 oldkr Wrote: > the film was shit, the theory was shit. He got > @#$%& up and drowned - come on guys it was too > long ago to still care that much! > > OLDKR The film wasn't shit, the film put forward a perfectly valid theory - albeit one that has never been proven and in all likelihood can never be.

No question he was f***ed up, no question he drowned, but as to the question of whether he drowned partly at the hands of another ... that in itself is perfectly feasible and that is the very subject matter that the film explores. What's shit about that ? Posted by: Stikkyfinger () Date: September 5, 2007 01:10 I downloaded this film and watched it twice. I liked it, but there were too many things that were inaccurate about the film. I'm no great Stones historian, but I could tell there was a lot of artisitic licence being used here. I think the main problem is that the actors who played Mick and Keith for example, hardly looked like either Mick or Keith. Ok, the guy who played Brian looked alright, but the rest of the 'Stones' just didn't cut it. This makes the viewer less inclined to get into the story IMHO. If you haven't seen this film I suggest you go watch it - but remember that a lot of it is inaccurate, or speculation. That doesn't make it a bad film though....

Date: May 1, 2008 15:00 Quote His Majesty I watched it last night for the first time. My god what a terrible film! I'm so glad I didn't give in to curiosity before and buy the DVD! Anyway, an over weight asmatic, with heart and liver issues, swimming under the influence of some drink and sleeping tablets during a cloudy humid night in a hot swimming pool is a recipe for disaster. Whilst the afore-mentioned health conditions wouldn't help, there must be literaly thousands of people who go out swimming - particularly abroad - who don't suffer the same consequences.And people considerably older than Brian. The level of drink and the actual amount of drugs found in his body were not I recall excessive - certainly not with Brian's history of substance abuse. It was quite interesting watching the Michael Barrymore documentary on Monday evening. The same unquestioned answers. One obvious similarity - the police investigation (at the scene) and the subsequent interviews with key witnesses and then the post-mortem seemed to have been less than perfectly carried out.

There will probably never be a final verdict (beyond allreasonable doubt) which is of course unsatisfactory - mostly for the family (as one could see quite plainly with the deceased's father) rather than fans who can just move on. They can call clousure,with family and friends its not so simple. On a final note, what was the motive behind Tom Keylock saying there had been a "deathbed confession" and then retracting it. Was it financially motivated? Presumably he was paid for his role as Consultant in the film - but how could the Director/Producers accept that what he had to contribute had any degree of legitamcy. But then again, in the film world this isn't always the point I guess. Brian Jones death - Janet Lawson's story Current Page: 1 of 6 Brian Jones death - Janet Lawson's story Posted by: Naturalust () Date: June 13, 2012 06:16 Sorry if this has already been posted but it probably the best first person account of Brian Jones death that I have ever read and I was unable to find an earlier post with a simple search.

I always suspected Frank Thorogood for some reason, not just his deathbed confession that he killed Brian. . This article adds credibilty to that assumption in my opinion, especially the letter from the police files that was finally released after persons involved died. I copied it from this link: [ ] RIP Brian peace Has the riddle of Rolling Stone Brian Jones's death been solved at last?By SCOTT JONES UPDATED: 17:06 EST, 29 November 2008 Brian Jones Brian Jones [ back ] On July 3, 1969, the body of Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones was found in a swimming pool at his home in Hartfield, Sussex, England. His death was ruled accidental drowning. He was 27. Jones was a blues historian who kept the group focused on their early musical direction and is considered by many to have been the Stones� original leader. Nearly 25 years after his death, someone confessed to murdering Jones. In April 1994, Frank Thorogood confessed, on his death bed, to murdering Jones.

Witnesses have corroborated Thorogood�s story, claiming that Thorogood and two others held Jones underwater in the rock star�s swimming pool until Jones had drowned. Four eye-witnesses, Nick Fitzgerald, Richard Cadbury, Anna Wohlin, and Linda Lawrence kept quiet for years because they were threatened either by Thorogood or his accomplices. In 1999, Wohlin wrote a book, The Murder of Brian Jones, where she describes how Jones was murdered and how Thorogood coerced her into remaining silent. [Book 2004] Rethinking John Lennon�s Assassination. The FBI�s War on Rock Stars By Salvador Astucia, April 2004 BRIAN JONES, July, 1969, London. One of the original members of the Rolling Stones. Unique musician, helped the group get started, under control of drugs by 1966, took LSD that caused personality changes and depression. Seemed to have brain damage and disintegrated. Compared his arrests and planted grass to the treatment Lennie Bruce had received, forced to drop from the group.

Keith Richards, of the Stones, said, "Some very weird things happened the night Brian died. We had these chauffeurs working for us, and we tried to find out. Some of them had a weird hold over Brian. I got straight into it and wanted to know who was there and couldn't find out. The only cat I could ask was the one I think who got rid of everybody, and did a whole disappearing thing so that when the cops arrived, it was just an accident. Maybe it was. I don't know. I don't even know who was there that night, and finding out is impossible. It's the same feeling with who killed Kennedy. You can't get to the bottom of it." "Mick Jagger" Tony Scaduto [1976] OPERATION CHAOS The CIA's War Against the Sixties Counter-Culture by Mae Brussell Famed historian A.E. Hotchner, in Blown Away (Fireside, 1990), a book about the Rolling Stones, published interviews with the four eye-witnesses, all close friends of Brian Jones who had observed the forced drowning of the rock star at Cotchford Farms.

The accused killer of Brian Jones even confessed on his deathbed - testimony acceptable in most courts of law (See, Murder Claims Raise Doubts over Rolling Stone's Death," Independent, April 4, 1994, p. 2). Anna Wohlin, one of the eye-witnesses, published The Murder of Brian Jones (1999), complementing Hotchner's conclusion that Jones had been murdered. Get Up, Stand Up ... for the CIA: Dr. Lowell Taubman's Counterfeit Analysis of the Origins of Bob Marley's Cancer By Alex Constantine Brian Jones - Homicide - Music Article | Dusty Wright's Culture Catch Brian Jones: The Drowning September 4, 2009 - 00:24 — DavidComfort Forty years ago, the Rolling Stones' founder, Brian Jones, drowned in his swimming pool. At the time, 1969, authorities called it "death by misadventure." The Sussex police have just announced that they may reopen the case as a homicide. The decision is based in part on a recent eyewitness report that the guitarist was in fact drowned by his live-in carpenter, Frank Thorogood.

Before dying of cancer in 1994, Thorogood himself was said to have confessed the murder to Stones chauffeur Tom Keylock. In her 2001 memoir, Jones's girlfriend, Anna Wohlin, another eyewitness to the tragedy, also fingered Thorogood. She alleged that band managers put her on the next plane back to Sweden, threatening her life should she talk to authorities. The Jones case harks back to that of his friend, Jimi Hendrix, who died in London a year later after being "drowned in red wine," according to the coroner. In 1993, the case was reopened by Scotland Yard as a possible homicide only to be reclosed months later due to insufficient evidence. Similar mysteries surround other deceased stars, notably Kurt Cobain and, now, Michael Jackson. Strangely, many had predicted early ends for themselves. Like Jones, both Hendrix and Cobain (as well as Morrison and Janis) died at age 27.

Once Jones, while tripping on acid, was told by bandmate Keith Richards, "You'll never make thirty, man." Brian replied, "I know." Not long before, when the guitarist saw a goat being led to slaughter in Morocco, he had cried, "That's ME!" The Stones laughed and agreed. In her autobiography, Jagger's ex-lover, Marianne Faithfull, related how he and Keith had "a real vendetta" against Brian and "unmercifully taunted" him. Guitarist Ry Cooder observed the same thing during the Let It Bleed sessions, two months before the drowning. "Jagger was always very contemptuous of Brian and told him he was washed up," he recalled. While the singer later conceded that he had been hard on his hypersensitive, drugged-out bandmate, he declared, "We carried Brian for quite a long time. We put up with his tirades and his not turning up for over a year." At last the Stones traveled to Brian's Cotchford Farm, the former residence of Winnie-the-Pooh author A.A. Milne, and fired him. "I felt sorry for him," drummer Charlie Watts later wrote.

"We took his one thing away, which was being in a band. I'm sure it nearly killed him when we sacked him." Charlie and bassist Bill Wyman were the only Stones to attend his funeral weeks later. Brian Jones's death by drowning was hauntingly uncanny. Days after the sacking, Mick and Marianne threw the I-Ching to see what the future might hold for him. "Death by water" came up. The prophecy was repeated on a second throw. Perhaps this reminded Jagger of an incident the year before at Richards's country estate. Freaked over the possibility of jail time for his most recent drug bust, Brian plunged into Keith's moat, screaming that he was going to kill himself. Keith laughed while Mick dove into the water after him. "You want to drown, you bastard?" he cried, dragging him ashore. "Well, I'm going to bloody well drown you, then. Look at these velvet trousers -- cost me fifty quid. You've ruined them!" Even Frank Thorogood, the resident carpenter at Cotchford, bullied him and berated him as a "pampered rock star." At last Brian threatened to fire the contractor for shoddy work and for extortionate charges.

That night, Thorogood drowned his employer in the estate swimming pool. Anna Wohlin, indoors at the time, insisted that Brian was a good swimmer and not intoxicated. Two days later, the Rolling Stones -- with new guitarist, Mick Taylor -- threw a memorial concert for Jones in Hyde Park. Jagger read Shelley's "Adonais," then released two thousand butterflies, most dead from suffocation. Soon the Doors' Jim Morrison -- who, two years later, would die on the same date as Brian -- wrote "Ode to L.A. While Thinking of Brian Jones, Deceased." Then the Who's Pete Townshend followed with his poem, "A Normal Day for Brian, A Man Who Died Every Day." Marianne Faithfull had a different perspective on her ex-lover, whom she called her "twin." "One of the things that keeps you alive when you're on the skids is that people care what happens to you," she wrote. "It's your life line, and with Brian nobody really cared anymore." Except her. After Bria's death the "As Tears Go By" star took a massive overdose of Tuinol and fell into a six-day coma.

"Everyone was taking his death so in stride, for God's sake!" she said. "Well, I thought, I'll show you! You want pain and suffering? I'll show you pain and suffering!" In her coma she was met by the resplendent ghost of Brian decked in medieval costume, his hair green, and "Buddhist lightning bolts tattooed on his palms." Beckoning her to a cliffside, he called, "Death is the next great adventure! Coming?" When Marianne finally opened her eyes, she found an incredulous Mick Jagger at her bedside. She tried to tell him her dream, but he refused to hear it. Then he left her for good. "Either you're dead, or you move along," Sir Mick, the ultimate rock survivor, had always said. - David Comfort Rolling Stones' Keith Richards 'drew knife on Brian Jones hours before he died' | Daily Mail Online comments Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had a blazing row with their former Rolling Stones bandmate Brian Jones on the day he died, culminating in Richards drawing a knife, according to an extraordinary claim made to police.

In a bizarre twist in the mystery, The Mail on Sunday has seen documents in which the daughter of the man now thought to have been involved in Jones’s death claims that the Stones’ former guitarist was confronted at his East Sussex home by Jagger and Richards over who owned the rights to the group’s name. Still going: The Rolling Stones on stage on Saturday night in London but a mystery still remains over the death of their former guitarist Brian Jones Back again: This was the first time the Rolling Stones played Hyde Park since their concert 44 years ago, two days after Brian Jones was found dead Hours later Jones was found dead in his swimming pool. The unsubstantiated claims, contained in an internal police report, were dismissed by officers, but will add further fuel to the conspiracy theories that surround Jones’s death in 1969 and question whether he really did drown under the influence of drink and drugs. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share The allegation comes after the Stones played in front of 65,000 fans at London’s Hyde Park last night, re-enacting the emotive tribute they gave for Jones at the same venue 44 years ago.

Last night’s concert was the first time the Stones have played at the park since their requiem for Jones two days after he was found dead. The source of the claim is Jan Bell, the daughter of Frank Thorogood, Jones’s builder-cum-minder who was present at Jones’s farm on the night of his death. Thorogood died in 1993. A year later, it was claimed that he had murdered Jones. Sussex Police appealed on TV for information and Bell telephoned them about the alleged incident. Bandmates: Keith Richards with Brian Jones in 1967, two years before Brian's death Her father told her that he intervened in the row between Jones and Richards, she claimed. Titled ‘Briefing Note: Death of Brian Jones’, the police report states: ‘She said that her father had told her a number of years ago that on the day of Brian’s death, Messrs Mick JAGGER and Keith RICHARDS visited Brian JONES at the farm in the morning and her father was present when Brian was asked by both men whether he would give up the name of the “Rolling Stones” to them and agree to a financial settlement.

‘Brian apparently declined to do so and it is alleged that Keith RICHARDS drew a knife. It is suggested that THOROGOOD calmed them down and both JAGGER and RICHARDS left the house.’ Brian Jones started and named The Rolling Stones in 1962. Last night, a Rolling Stones spokesman declined to comment on the claim. After the report was written, no further action was taken because a senior officer in Sussex Police intervened to block standard investigating procedures, it is alleged. The Mail on Sunday has traced the police officer who interviewed Jan Bell. The officer, who did not want to be named, said: ‘I arranged to meet lawyers representing Mick Jagger and Keith Richards – two firms, one in New York and one in Los Angeles – to talk specifically about Jan Bell’s statement to Sussex Police, about them being at the house on the day of the death and about the knife being drawn. Death: Cotchford Farm in Sussex where Brian Jones died in the swimming pool ‘But the Assistant Chief Constable intervened and blocked me from meeting the Stones’ lawyers. The ACC drew a line under it.

The statements made to Sussex Police by Jan Bell should have led to what the police call standard “trace and eliminate” work – to prove or disprove any information the police have been given, and to work out if something did or did not take place. ‘But I was told to put details of Jan Bell’s interview into a report, and that was it.’ The astounding allegation is the most startling piece of material that The Mail on Sunday has uncovered about Brian Jones’s death. However, our enquiries have also brought to light further claims about what one band member may privately have suspected about it. Rolling Stones....Hollywood line-up: Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts and Mick Jagger pose on a movie-set staircase in Los Angeles. ...Unseen Stones photos found in a duffel bag' feature. Taken by the late Bob Bonis between 1964-1966 Harper Collins/Bob Bonis The Mail on Sunday has ascertained that as far back as the 1980s, Richards was aware of suspicions that Frank Thorogood killed Jones, and that Tom Keylock, a Stones manager, had led a cover-up.

Robert Greenfield, an American author and a former editor of Rolling Stone magazine, lived with Richards in the South of France in May 1971, during the recording of the Stones’ album Exile On Main Street. Greenfield recorded hours of conversations with Richards during this period, which reveal that the guitarist was aware of the alleged cover-up that Keylock – who Richards called Mr Get-It-Together – put in place. Richards told Greenfield about the aftermath of Jones’s death: ‘I wanted to know who was there and couldn’t find out. The only cat I could ask was the one I think got rid of everybody and did the whole disappearing trick so when the cops arrived, it was just an accident. 'Maybe it was. Maybe the cat just wanted to get everyone out of the way so it wasn’t all names involved, etc. Maybe he did the right thing, but I don’t know. I don’t even know who was there that night, and trying to find out is impossible.’ There is also new evidence that in the 1980s Richards was aware of Thorogood’s alleged involvement in Jones’s death, via Patrick Townshend, a former business partner of Mick Jagger and Bill Wyman.

THE IRONING MAKES A BEAST OF BURDEN OUT OF JAGGER Chillaxing: Mick Jagger in his trailer He’s the 69-year-old frontman of a band famed for rock’n’roll excesses. But it seems time has finally caught up with Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger. He revealed that he prepared for last night’s Hyde Park concert by getting up early to do his chores. On his Twitter page, Jagger posted a picture of himself sitting on a leather sofa in salmon-coloured jeans and a somewhat creased pink shirt. With his hand resting on an iPad and a black ‘manbag’ on the sofa beside him, he added: ‘Beautiful day in London, can’t wait for the show. 'Been up early ironing my clothes.’

Question: Who is alleged to have confessed to the murder of Brian Jones on his death bed
Answer: Frank Thorogood